Saudi Crown Prince to meet Macron in Paris soon

PARIS - 5 January 2018: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is to travel to Paris to meet French President Emmanuel Macron at around the end of February or early March, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told French TV CNEWS.

Asked if Prince Mohammed, known as MbS, would be visiting Paris, Jubeir said: "Yes, god willing. He received an invitation from President Emmanuel Macron. We're thinking about an end February-early March date."

He said the exact date had not been finalised yet but would be decided upon in the coming weeks. Jubeir's comments were broadcast via a French translation.

Spearheaded by Prince Mohammed, Saudi Arabia has detained dozens of senior business people and government officials, accusing them of crimes including money laundering although not of terror financing.

Prince Mohammed is also leading sweeping economic and social reforms intended to remodel the world's top oil exporter and biggest Arab economy into a modern state no longer dependent on petroleum. These include the planned the sale of five percent of state oil giant Saudi Aramco, which could be the biggest IPO in history.